1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to soap compositions of enhanced antimicrobial effectiveness.
2. The Prior Art
Consumers are quite concerned with the elimination of body odor. This concern has provided a very large market for deodorant and antimicrobial soap bars.
Demand for such products began just prior to World War II with the introduction of Lifebuoy.RTM. soap containing phenolic actives. Advertising for this soap brought the term "B.O." into the common vocabulary.
About 1950, a further class of chemicals known as bacteriostats were introduced into soap bars. These chemicals control bacteria which cause sweat to break down into malodorous components. Over the years the most widely used actives were hexachlorophene; chlorhexidine; 3,4,4'-trichlorocarbanilide; 3,4',5-tribromosalicylanilide; 4,4'-dichloro-3'-(trifluoromethyl)carbanalide; and 2,4,4'-trichloro-2'-hydroxy diphenyl ether.
Prior research into reducing the microbial count primarily focused upon the nature of the bacteriostat. Apparently little attention has been directed at the interaction of surfactants, e.g. soap or syndet, with that of the antimicrobial active agent. Of particular interest is the question of whether bars fashioned from significant amounts of non-soap surfactant have similar antimicrobial responses to that of soap. Furthermore, there has also remained the question of whether highly skin mild toilet bar formulations would interact well with bacteriostats.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning composition, especially in the form of a toilet bar, which would have enhanced deodorant and antimicrobial activity.
A further object of this invention is to provide a cleaning composition, particularly a toilet bar, containing a bacteriostat that will not impair skin mildness or other physical properties of the composition.